It Happened on Fifth Avenue

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It Happened on 5th Avenue
Happened5avenue.jpg
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Produced by Roy Del Ruth
Joe Kaufmann (associate)
Written byStory: Frederick Stephani
Herbert Clyde Lewis
Screenplay by Everett Freeman
Vick Knight
Ben Markson
Starring Don DeFore
Ann Harding
Charles Ruggles
Victor Moore
Gale Storm
Music by Edward Ward
CinematographyHenry Sharp
Edited byRichard V. Heermance
Production
company
Roy Del Ruth Productions
Distributed by Allied Artists
Release date
  • April 19, 1947 (1947-04-19)(U.S.)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English
Box office$1.2 million [1] or $1.3 million [2]

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) is a motion picture comedy, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Victor Moore, Ann Harding, Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles and Gale Storm. Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story, losing to Valentine Davies and another Christmas-themed story, Miracle on 34th Street .

Roy Del Ruth was an American film director.

Victor Moore Film actor, stage actot

Victor Frederick Moore was an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a comedian, writer, and director, most significantly a major Broadway star from the late 1920s through the 1930s.

Ann Harding American actress

Ann Harding was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was one of the first actresses to gain fame in the new medium of "talking pictures", and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her work in Holiday.

Contents

It was remade in Hindi twice in India: Pugree (1948) and Dil Daulat Duniya (1972). [3]

<i>Dil Daulat Duniya</i> 1972 Hindi film

Dil Daulat Duniya is a 1972 Bollywood comedy-drama film, directed by Prem Narayan Arora and starring Rajesh Khanna, Sadhana, Ashok Kumar, Om Prakash, Sulochana, Helen and Jagdeep. The film revolves around a poor man in a palatial house who allows other newcomers in city of Mumbai to stay in his house as he feels pity on them. The music was scored by Shankar Jaikishan and songs are sung by Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna. This movie was accepted by Khanna, only because he wanted to pay tribute to the acting talents of his seniors Ashok Kumar and Om Prakash, as his name would ensure that distributors would sell the film and it would reach a larger audience. The newspaper "The Hindu", in its review said "Ashok Kumar and Om Prakash are the soul of the movie and dominate the show with their acting dexterity." The film fetched 1.5 crores at the box office. As of 2012, this was among the top 10 searched movies of Khanna online.

Plot

Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore), a New York City hobo, makes his winter home in a seasonally boarded-up Fifth Avenue mansion, entering and exiting the property through a loose board in the back fence, while its owner—multi-millionaire Michael J. O'Connor (Charles Ruggles)—winters in the South. McKeever winds up taking in homeless ex-G.I. Jim Bullock (Don DeFore), who has been evicted from an apartment building O'Connor is tearing down for a new skyscraper, and runaway 18-year-old Trudy "Smith" (Gale Storm), who is actually O'Connor's daughter. Jim soon invites war buddies Whitey (Alan Hale, Jr.), Hank (Edward Ryan) and their families to share the vast mansion while they seek permanent homes of their own.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Hobo migratory worker or homeless vagabond

A hobo is a migrant worker or homeless vagrant, especially one who is impoverished. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States around 1890. Unlike a "tramp", who works only when forced to, and a "bum", who does not work at all, a "hobo" is a traveling worker.

Fifth Avenue avenue in Manhattan

Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is considered one of the most expensive and elegant streets in the world.

Trudy falls in love with Jim, and when her father agrees to meet him, she convinces O'Connor to also take up residence, pretending to be a panhandler named "Mike". Trudy wants to win Jim's love without the temptation of her wealth. McKeever "allows" Mike to move in, but treats him as a servant. When Mike warns Trudy that he intends to have the squatters arrested, she persuades her mother Mary (Ann Harding) to fly up from Florida and pretend to be another homeless trespasser. Determined to derail Jim and Trudy's budding romance, Mike has one of his construction companies offer Jim a great job in Bolivia, but Jim turns it down to pursue his dream: he and his friends intend to buy a former Army camp and convert its barracks into inexpensive family housing, pooling the money from hundreds of other ex-G.I.'s. Unbeknownst to Jim, Mike gets into a bidding war with him over the camp, where Mike wants to build an air cargo terminal. In the meantime, McKeever unwittingly helps Mike and Mary—who have long been divorced—restore their relationship.

Florida State of the United States of America

Florida is the southernmost contiguous state in the United States. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U.S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is Florida's most populous urban area. Tallahassee is the state's capital.

Bolivia country in South America

Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. The capital is Sucre while the seat of government and financial center is located in La Paz. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales a mostly flat region in the east of Bolivia.

Celebrating Christmas Eve together, they forget to hide as usual from the patrolmen who check the house every night, but McKeever convinces them to let the families stay until after the New Year. Jim then reveals that the camp has been lost to Michael J. O'Connor, and is considering the job offer in Bolivia. Angered at how Mike has manipulated the situation, Mary and Trudy tell him that they will leave for Florida. Ashamed, Mike spins a tale that he has arranged a meeting with O'Connor for Jim and his partners, who are dubious but accept. At the meeting, Mike reveals his true identity and transfers ownership of the camp to the boys, on the condition that they not reveal his identity to McKeever.

Christmas Eve Evening or entire day before Christmas Day

Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.

New Year first day of a calendar year, in particular, January 1 in the Julian and Gregorian calendar

New Year is the time or day at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one.

That night, everyone shares a celebratory New Year's dinner before restoring the house just as they found it. Mike, Mary, Trudy and Jim bid farewell to McKeever as he heads off to the O'Connors' mansion in Virginia, still unaware of the truth. Mike tells Mary to remind him to nail up the board in the back fence, intending to have McKeever come through the front door next winter.

Virginia State of the United States of America

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's estimated population as of 2018 is over 8.5 million.

Cast

Production

It marked the debut of Allied Artists Pictures, the higher-budget division of Monogram Pictures, formerly a low-budget film studio. The story was originally optioned by Liberty Films in 1945 for director Frank Capra (who decided to direct It's a Wonderful Life instead); [4] later that year producer-director Roy Del Ruth acquired the story. [5] The casting of Ann Harding and Victor Moore was announced in June 1946, [6] Don DeFore and Gale Storm in July, [7] and filming proceeded from August 5 to mid-October 1946. [8] The production schedule and Christmastime climax of the story suggest a Christmas release was originally planned, but for whatever reason, the movie's release was delayed until Easter 1947.

The screenplay was adapted for a radio version on Lux Radio Theater in May 1947, with Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, and Gale Storm repeating their roles; and a live television production for Lux Video Theatre in 1957, with Ernest Truex, Leon Ames, Diane Jergens, and William Campbell. [9]

Among the four songs in the movie, "That's What Christmas Means to Me" was not the Varnick-Acquaviva minor hit for Eddie Fisher but another song written by Harry Revel which is hard to find anywhere these days. There are at least three songs with that title, one by Stevie Wonder is a perky hit – but again, not the Eddie Fisher song of the 50s. Also, Betty Jane Rhodes recorded "You're Everywhere" in 1947. [10]

Critical reception

The Washington Post thought the celebrity endorsements (by Frank Capra, Orson Welles, Al Jolson, Constance Bennett and others) [11] used in the movie's advertising to be "high-flown" and "Hollywoodesque"; instead, the movie was a "mild, pleasant little film which probably will find many admirers." [12]

Time magazine said,

Most plausible explanations for the picture's success are: 1) the presence of Victor Moore, past master of creaky charm and pathos; 2) a show as generally oldfashioned, in a harmless way, as a 1910 mail-order play for amateurs; 3) the fact that now, as in 1910, a producer cannot go wrong with a mass audience if he serves up a whiff of comedy and a whirlwind of hokum. [13]

Bosley Crowther in The New York Times praised its "geniality and humor" and the "charming performance" by Moore. [14] The New Republic disagreed, calling it "childish stuff" and Moore "too cute for words". [15]

TV broadcast

It Happened on Fifth Avenue was part of a package of 49 Monogram and Allied Artists features from the late 1940s and early 1950s that were first licensed for television broadcast in 1954. [16]

Around 1990, the film essentially disappeared from broadcast and retail availability. Despite an Academy Award nomination, a cult following through a dedicated fan website, and many requests to Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics to show the film, it was not broadcast on American television for nearly 20 years. It finally aired on Turner Classic Movies in 2009 and beginning in 2014, is broadcast frequently during the holiday season. Hallmark Movie Channel also broadcast the film in 2014.

Home media

On November 11, 2008, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD, and it is now available through most major DVD retailers and distributors. The film was later made available for streaming and download in the digital format.

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References

  1. ↑ OUT HOLLYWOOD WAY: The Voice of the Turtle" MORE NEWS OUT OF HOLLYWOOD Coastscripts By THOMAS F. BRADY Vandamm. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 08 Sep 1946: X1.
  2. ↑ "Mono's $1.3 million pic", Variety, 6 November 1946 p 9
  3. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-reviews/dil-daulat-duniya-1972-movie-review/article6360033.ece
  4. ↑ "Mary Martin Gets Role at Warners", The New York Times, August 13, 1945, p. 22.
  5. ↑ "'Portrait in Black' To Become a Film", The New York Times, Dec. 3, 1945, p. 28.
  6. ↑ "Michael Todd Set to Film 'Great Son'", The New York Times, June 4, 1946, p. 33.
  7. ↑ "News of the Screen", The New York Times, July 29, 1946, p. 25.
  8. ↑ "News of the Screen", The New York Times, July 29, 1946, p. 25. American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures (online database).
  9. ↑ Connie J. Billips and Arthur Pierce, Lux Presents Hollywood, McFarland & Co., 1995, p. 609. ISBN   978-0-89950-938-9.
  10. ↑ Record Reviews, Billboard, April 5, 1947, p. 28.
  11. ↑ Print advertisement for It Happened on Fifth Avenue.
  12. ↑ Richard Coe, “‘Fifth Avenue’ a Nice Little Film That's Been Gushed About Too Much”, The Washington Post, May 8, 1947, p. 2.
  13. ↑ "The New Pictures", Time, June 16, 1947.
  14. ↑ Bosley Crowther, "The Screen in Review", The New York Times, June 11, 1947, p. 33.
  15. ↑ The New Republic, April 1947, p. 35.
  16. ↑ "News of TV and Radio", The New York Times, Sept. 19, 1954, p. X15.
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